Study: Carbon Dioxide's Effect on Brain Linked to Anxiety, Panic Attacks

According to the Anxiety Disorder Association of America, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States. About 40 million people age 18 and older are affected. There are several categories of anxiety attacks including panic disorder. About six million Americans suffer from panic attacks in a given year (National Institute of Mental Health). In panic disorder, individuals have severe attacks of terror. They believe they are having a heart attack or are going crazy for no known reason. Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from anxiety disorders in general and also from panic attacks.

In a study published in October 2007 in PLoS One, researchers found that inhalation of carbon dioxide can trigger the symptoms of panic attacks in healthy individuals. This suggests that all of us have carbon dioxide sensors and that carbon dioxide may be the culprit in panic attacks. Individuals prone to panic attacks may have more sensitive carbon dioxide sensors.

It has been known for some time that even small increases in carbon dioxide concentration can trigger a panic attack in anxiety-prone individuals. This led to the "false suffocation alarm" theory. Increases in carbon dioxide would trigger the oversensitive carbon dioxide sensors, which would tell the body that it is drowning, causing fear and panic. The carbon dioxide sensor could have evolved to warn oxygen-breathing individuals of impending death.